Finland's Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov(SDP)
decided on Monday to order the threatened harbour strike be postponed by two
weeks, at the request of National Conciliator Juhani Salonius.
The stevedores of all Finnish harbours have threatened to go on strike
if no results are reached by April 29th.
Last November, the Finnish Transport Workers Union (AKT) and the Finnish
Port Operators' Association started negotiations for the renewal of
collective labour agreements of the stevedores of all Finnish harbours.
A new meeting is scheduled for Thursday. To speed up the negotiations,
the union already imposed an overtime ban at the harbours from April 1st.
The central issues of the talks include the
employers' demand for more flexible working shifts and working hour
models in order to achieve greater efficiency. The union demands that
those roughly 200 harbour workers who are currently employed only
temporarily should be given permanent jobs.
According to the employers, the strike would stop all cargo transport
through Finland's public harbours.
According to the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), a strike
would cut both imports and exports by about 100 million euros a day. It
would also cause disturbances in the production of Finnish industies
within a few days.
